This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
After several days of anticipation, we're finally set for the beginning of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The Pacers-Thunder matchup makes for an interesting clash of styles in a certain sense, as Indiana's breakneck pace of play should prove an intriguing challenge for a Thunder team whose identity and success is heavily rooted in suffocating defense.
With only one matchup, we're dealing with FanDuel's single-game contest rosters comprised as follows:
MVP- (Garners points at 1.5x the normal rate)
Five Utility spots- (Garner points at normal rate)
With salaries also being different than in conventional FanDuel contests on multi-game slates and top players inevitably headed for heavy rostering, there are definitely strategic elements particular to single-game lineups. Finding key value plays for some of utility spots is undoubtedly key, as it enables you to roster a superstar in the MVP slot, where salaries for each player are 1.5x higher than if you were rostering them in a Utility spot.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Thursday, 6/5 @10:00 a.m. ET:
Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder (-9.5) (O/U: 230.5)
The Thunder's status as heavy home favorites to kick off the series isn't entirely surprising, but it's eye-catching to an extent nonetheless given how effective the Pacers have proven on the road and in often keeping games very close during the postseason. However, two main factors in the number could be OKC's 35-6 home record during the regular season and its 21-point win over Indiana there as well.
The elevated total is also to be expected considering Indiana's aforementioned pace and both teams' ability to pile up points against any opponent. The two regular-season meetings were also high-scoring affairs, ending with totals of 234 and 243 points.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Tony Bradley, IND (hip): QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
The players with the two highest MVP salaries on Thursday's slate are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($24,300) and Tyrese Haliburton ($20,400).
Gilgeous-Alexander's case for the highest-upside player on the slate is airtight, and he'll enter Game 1 having scored over 56 standard FD points in the last five postseason games in which he played more than 27 minutes. SGA also scored 56.4 and 73.4 standard FD points in the two meetings against Indiana in the regular season.
Haliburton has had a couple of duds thus far this postseason but he wrapped up the ECF against the Knicks with totals of 80.9 and 55.7 standard FD points in two of the last three contests. He's a threat to exceed 50 any time he's on the floor, but it's worth noting he averaged only 11.0 points, 5.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals across 32.0 minutes per contest against the Thunder in the two regular-season encounters.
Expected Chalk
With only one matchup, the likes of Jalen Williams ($12,40), Pascal Siakam ($10,800) and Chet Holmgren ($9,400) should also be very popular.
Williams has averaged 40.2 FD points in the Thunder's 16-game-and-counting postseason run and generally has one of the safest floors of the players in Thursday's game, which should make him highly popular.
Siakam earned ECF MVP honors by averaging 41.1 FD points in the six-game series, and the fact he's also averaged a solid 33.3 FD points in the 10 postseason games before that should make him very appealing to DFS players again Thursday.
Holmgren has been a steady performer throughout OKC's postseason, averaging 35.7 FD points per contest and has scored 39.7 FD points or more in six of 16 games.
Key Values
The following players make for strong candidates for the Utility spots:
Myles Turner, IND ($8,000)
Turner has seen a salary drop to open the Finals after losing some fantasy momentum toward the end of the ECF against the Knicks. The floor-spacing big man scored just 12.4 to 23.1 FD points in the final three contests of the series, with the surface culprits being reduced offensive involvement (5.7 field-goal attempts per game) and a drop to 2.3 rebounds per game. However, it was foul trouble that was really at the heart of Turner's downturn, as he fouled out of Game 4 and then played just 24 and 21 minutes in Games 5 and 6, respectively, due to the ref's whistle as well. He'll get a fresh start Thursday and did post 41.2 FD points in one of his two games against the Thunder in the regular season, making him an intriguing option considering he'd averaged 33.4 FD points per game over Indiana's first 13 postseason clashes before the slump.
Andrew Nembhard, IND ($6,000)
Nembhard figures to have a secure workload throughout the series, as he's likely to be a primary defender against Gilgeous-Alexander. The 2022 first-round pick was a force on that side of the ball against the Knicks, and he wrapped up the series with a whopping nine steals in the final two contests. Nembhard's offensive production is always going to have some fluctuation, but he's averaged 28.4 FD points on 47.3 percent shooting, including 48.3 percent from three, during the Pacers' 16-game playoff run thus far. Nembhard has eclipsed 30 FD points on seven occasions during that span, so the possibility of greater than a 5x return on his current salary is certainly within his range of outcomes given the variety of ways he accrues fantasy production, especially when also considering he scored 31.5 and 45.3 FD points in his two games against OKC this past regular season.
Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC ($5,200)
Hartenstein's fantasy production has had a bit of a rollercoaster quality to it this postseason, but his reduced salary accounts for some of that volatility. The big man has still been a serviceable contributor, considering he's averaged 25.0 FD points in 16 playoff games thus far. Hartenstein's minutes have sometimes been a limiting factor, as he's averaged just 23.9 minutes per contest and finished the WCF with three straight sub-20-minute allotments. However, his length should be needed plenty against Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner, which should give Hartenstein a relatively safe floor to open the series.
ALSO CONSIDER: Aaron Nesmith, IND ($5,000)
